The role of cuticle in fruit shelf-life

Ensuring the availability of high-quality fresh fruits requires the development of strategies to maintain prolonged shelf-life. The plant cuticle is a modification of the outer epidermal cell wall and, as such, acts as a barrier with the environment. Understanding how the cuticle naturally changes during postharvest is crucial to address the potential effect of different storage conditions on the cuticle biophysical properties. The impact of different cuticle traits in fruit water loss, its relevance in several fruit-skin disorders, and its participation in postharvest decay caused by pathogens are discussed. Future challenges to study in vivo the physicochemical properties of the cuticle are also addressed. [Display omitted] •Natural variability for cuticle changes during postharvest has been identified.•There is a dynamic transcriptional pattern of cuticle genes during postharvest.•For many crops, cuticle waxes tend to increase during short-term storage.•Suberin deposition seals microcracks but only partially restores the water barrier.•Postharvest decay caused by pathogens is influenced in part by cuticle traits.